“Any innovator deploying
any prototypes in the field
can’t possibly assess
the economics and costs
of staggered roll-outs,
staggered builds and
optimization trade-offs
independent of the people
who will actually be using those prototypes.
Their level of training,
their abilities to observe and report,
their mistakes and misunderstandings,
the natural variability they individually introduce
are costs and risk factors
that invariably influence
design decisions around the prototype.”

***

“The great German General von Moltke
once observed that,
“All plans evaporate
on contact with the enemy.”
For serious innovators,
that aphorism becomes,
“All prototypes evolve
on contact with the user.”"

Marketing copy, programs,
heck, ANY project
should be tested
with the end users
as soon as possible.

I recently was joking around
on a reader chat.
From beginning to end,
I made jokes and teased people
and had a great time.
I also posted excerpts and buy links
and added friends to my Facebook account
and readers to my newsletter list.

At the end of the chat
(and the readers didn’t want it to end),
readers said that wasn’t a chat.
That was fun.

In other words…
that wasn’t marketing
because it was fun.

On another writer loop,
I announce new releases by members.
With every new release,
I ask the writers what they learned.

Recently there was a ban
on promotion/marketing
with the exclusion of new releases.
Because members learned things
from the marketing,
they didn’t consider it marketing.

So when you hear
from customers
that they don’t want you marketing to them,
that’s bullshit.
What they really are saying
is that they don’t like the way you’re marketing to them.

If your marketing is entertaining
or educational
or ???,
it will not only be tolerated
but requested.

We all are dealing with information overload.
Our brains deal with this overload
by filtering information.

One filter is by the source of information
and whether or not
we trust it.

If I don’t trust someone,
I discard the information
they’re sharing outright.
I don’t investigate it.
I completely erase it from my brain.

On the flipside,
if I trust the source completely
and I’m in a rush,
I’ll act upon that information.

Turns out…
other people do that same thing.

A study performed by Martin Lindstrom
for his book
Brandwashed
shows that
“Deep trust is communicated
subconsciously.
It’s rarely expressed explicitly,
nor is imparted loudly
or didactically.
To trust deeply
not only can change our minds,
but it has the power
to alter our most ingrained behaviors.”

If you’re a trusted source,
people will act upon your information.
Think before you speak.

When I was younger,
I didn’t talk about my failures often.
I didn’t like the “poor you” comments
I received
when I talked about failure.
It made me feel like I did something wrong.

A few years ago,
a loved one failed
and I told him
“Try again. You can do it.”

His response?
“Fine for you to talk.
You always succeed.”

THAT was when
I realized
I wasn’t doing anyone any favors
by hiding my failures.

As Siimon Reynolds
in Why People Fail says
failure is a “forbidden subject.
We’re not supposed to fail
and if we do,
we’re supposed to hide it from everybody.
It gives people the wrong impression
about what it takes to be successful.”

Talk about your failures,
especially to the people you’re mentoring.
Take the shame out of this vital part
of being successful.

Also it’s a free country.
You get to decide
what you want to do for a living
and where you work.

Isn’t that enough?

Sure, the economy sucks.
So if you’ve got a crappy job or
a boss who’s a jerk,
you’re sort of stuck for a while.
Sometimes it’s worse than others,
but the economy is cyclical and
it’s been that way forever.

Besides, if you think your company is hell,
your boss is the devil, and
your coworkers are political, backstabbing creeps,
there’s a fair chance that it’s you.
Nobody wants to believe
they’re the problem.”

“Transitions and change imply,
by definition,
that people are trying something
for the first time.
When your little child
tried out her first steps
and fell after the third one,
you didn’t offer a performance appraisal.
You hugged her, made a big fuss,
took a video,
and called the grandparents.

Offer the same to adults
who are trying something
for the first time.
Truth be told,
they are feeling like kids at that moment.”